An F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet from the US-led coalition
battling ISIS in Syria downed a Syrian SU-22 fighter over the
countryside south of Raqqa on Sunday afternoon local time,
according to a coalition press release.

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On Sunday late afternoon, pro-Syrian government forces attacked
the town of Ja'Din, south of Tabqah and west of Raqqa, ISIS'
self-declared capital, the release said.

Ja'Din was held by coalition-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, and
the Syrian strikes wounded some SDF fighters. Coalition aircraft
stopped the initial strike through a show of force.

Coalition officials then contacted their Russian counterparts via
a "de-confliction line" to stop the firing. But about two hours
after the first strike by pro-Syrian government forces, a Syrian
SU-22 fighter dropped several bombs near SDF fighters south of
Tabqah.

"In accordance with rules of engagement and in collective
self-defense of Coalition partnered forces," the release said,
the SU-22 "was immediately shot down by a U.S. F/A-18E Super
Hornet."

In a
statement released on Syrian state television, the Syrian
army said the US-led coalition shot down a Syrian army jet during
a combat mission against ISIS fighters south of Raqqa.

The army's statement said the plane crashed and the pilot was
missing.

source

Christopher Woody/Google Maps

The US-led coalition and its local partners have come into
conflict with pro-Syrian government forces and their allies
several times in recent weeks, as both sides jockey to assume
control of territory given up by ISIS as the terrorist group
loses strength in Syria.

All those earlier clashes came
in the area around al Tanf, in southeast Syria near the
country's borders with Iraq and Jordan. US special operations
forces are on the ground near al Tanf to train local partner
forces. (The US also reportedly
stationed long-range rockets near al Tanf earlier this
month.)

The
area is seen as strategically valuable by the Syrian
government and its Iranian backers, as well as by the US-led
coalition and its local partners fighting ISIS. Russia has also
reportedly
launched strikes against militias opposed to the Syrian
government in the al Tanf area.

As after those incidents, the US-led coalition said in a release
Sunday:

"The Coalition does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian, or
pro-regime forces partnered with them, but will not hesitate to
defend Coalition or partner forces from any threat ... The
demonstrated hostile intent and actions of pro-regime forces
toward Coalition and partner forces in Syria conducting
legitimate counter-ISIS operations will not be tolerated."

A US fighter near a military vehicle north of Raqqa city, Syria, on November 6.

source

Reuters/Rodi Said

Syrian government forces and allied militias reported meeting up
with Iraqi forces near al Waleed in what Syrian officials
called "the sign of the cooperation between the brotherly
Iraqi and Syrian military leadership to secure the shared
borders."

US officials
said the meeting point was northeast of al Tanf and the Iraqi
recapture of al-Waleed had "no bearing on Coalition partner
training operations at At Tanf."

Iran has also fired on ISIS fighters in northern Syria in recent
hours.

The semiofficial Iranian news agency Tasnim said the IGRC was
targeting ISIS because it held the group responsible for attacks
in Tehran earlier this month that saw
five ISIS-linked fighters storm the Iranian parliament
building and a shrine to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The attacks
left
18 people dead and wounded more than 50.

"The spilling of any pure blood will not go unanswered," the
IRGC said in a statement, according to Tasnim.